I will be running a Free workshop at the City of Subiaco Arts Centre on January 22nd, 2020.

These workshops fill quickly and there are only a few places left.

The ability to sell is an essential skill to have if you want to build a profitable business. Selling requires you to communicate effectively and be genuinely interested in understanding your customers and helping them solve their problems.

In this practical workshop, you will learn how to improve your ability to engage with your customers through effective communications skills.

You will learn:

●  Common sales mistakes and how to avoid them

●  The most successful sales process

●  Listening and questioning skills

●  When and how to ask for the business

●  How to significantly improve referrals

The workshop is designed to help you engage and build strong relationships with your customers.
At the completion of this workshop, you will leave with an actionable one-page sales plan and be equipped with the tools and knowledge to be more confident in your approach to selling.

Spots are limited, so register today by clicking the link below.

REGISTER

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I will be running a Free workshop at the Stirling Business Centre on Thursday, 21 November 2019 between 9:30am to 12:30pm.

These workshops fill quickly and there are only a few places left.

The ability to sell is an essential skill to have if you want to build a profitable business. Selling requires you to communicate effectively and be genuinely interested in understanding your customers and helping them solve their problems.

In this practical workshop, you will learn how to improve your ability to engage with your customers through effective communications skills.

You will learn:

●  Common sales mistakes and how to avoid them

●  The most successful sales process

●  Building empathy and connection

●  Listening and questioning skills

●  When and how to ask for the business

●  How to significantly improve referrals

The workshop is designed to help you engage and build strong relationships with your customers.
At the completion of this workshop, you will leave with an actionable one-page sales plan and be equipped with the tools and knowledge to be more confident in your approach to selling.

Spots are limited, so register today by clicking the link below.

REGISTER

The post Growing Sales – Upcoming Workshop – Winning Work appeared first on Emergination.

With some 93% of non government employment being by small business, it is critical to understand how important buying locally is to vibrant healthy businesses that can buy goods and services from your own business – and employ your children.

You might be surprised to know how much of an impact there is from buying overseas. Right now we are experiencing a drain from the Australian economy through international intermediary businesses like Uber Eats and Trivago, to how the advertising industry has fundamentally changed via Google and Facebook, as well as overseas owned resources companies. On top of this we see overseas purchases of many goods and services.

I would be interested to see the modelling here – the statistics on taxation are astonishing with large international companies paying a fraction of the tax that small and mid sized businesses pay. It is an issue that collectively governments need to tackle to level the playing field.

So you might wonder how is this affecting our economy – which despite some recent improvement is still weak in many sectors.

One study that sought to model the effect of buying local was commissioned by the City of Stirling following a Buy Local economic impact study completed in the City of Geraldton by Remplan.

The study sought to understand the impact of buying from a small business retailer, against a regional branch or online.

For $100 of expenditure and for each of 1) a locally owned business, 2) a local branch and 3) an online store, the following was estimated:

•           Local Expenditure
•           Wages & salaries
•           Gross Operating Surplus
•           Total estimated to remain in the community (sum of the above)

Sector: Retail
Expenditure: $100

Small Business
Local Expenditure $25.22
Wages & Salaries $27.59
Gross Operating Surplus $14.06
TOTAL $66.88

Local Branch
Local Expenditure $21.44
Wages & Salaries $27.59
Gross Operating Surplus $0.00
TOTAL $49.03

Online Store
Local Expenditure $2.05 (primarily local delivery / courier costs)
Wages & Salaries $0.00
Gross Operating Surplus $0.00
TOTAL $2.05

So, my call to you is to buy local wherever you can!

With thanks to Nigel Redwood, Economic Development Officer, City Planning from the City of Stirling for the data.

The post Growing Small Business appeared first on Emergination.

The Western Australian annual INCITE Awards for 2020 nominations are now open.

The Awards provide an opportunity to showcase innovation in ICT products, services, technical solutions and projects.

Entering the Awards provides an excellent opportunity for individuals, companies and teams to receive due recognition for their successes in the ever-growing ICT sector of the Western Australian economy. Many businesses have used this recognition to help with marketing efforts and to provide another level of validation which features in any sales push.

Winning an INCITE Award is the only way to enter the National iAwards.  The awards recognise individual achievement, product innovation and excellence.  ICT underpins all facets of the economy and innovation in Western Australia.

Having experienced winning an Award with Prezentt in 2014 with Co-founder Jeff Robson, and also working with another category winner in Solo Accounts,  I can appreciate the value and importance of winning one of these awards. WA companies have featured very well nationally and it goes to show the level of innovation coming out of WA.

The 10 Award Categories are as follows:

• Smarter Communities
• Transformative Business Solutions
• Innovating Government
• Social Impact
• Startup of the Year
• Research & Innovation Project of the Year
• Peter Fillery Best Undergraduate Tertiary Student Project of the Year
• Dr Mal Bryce WA Tech Company of the Year
• Pearcey Western Australian Entrepreneur of the Year
• Achiever of the Year

For more information and to nominate for the Awards, please visit the INCITE Awards website.

Image The Blockchain Blues Band had the great delight of providing music at the 2019 Awards. Find us on Twitter here.

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One of the issues that business leaders often raise is an intense dislike of sales and a desire to simply hand off the responsibility to someone else. When it comes to sales meetings they feel a bit like the guy in the photo above – turning up to a gunfight with a banana wearing a shiny suit: really uncomfortable.

Yet, handing sales off to another staff member, or hiring specifically for that purpose in smaller companies without dedicated sales people can be a challenge:

• At what point in the life of the business do you hire?
• How do you compensate a sales person where no baseline incentive structure or sales conversion norm is in place?
• How do you improve the probability of success, particularly when the owner hates sales and feels lost providing guidance to their new direct report?

Selling can be a somewhat emotionally bruising exercise. And when you hit a purple patch it can be the best thing you can do with your clothes on (other than playing guitar or playing golf <insert your own favourite hobby here> :).

Product Belief is Critical to Successful Selling

The missing ingredient for most is true product belief. If product belief is high enough, resistance falls away.

If you genuinely believe that your product makes your customer’s life better,
aren’t you doing them a disservice by not helping them to own it?

If you don’t believe your product makes your customer’s life better, you need to work on the product, your competitive understanding of the market – and on you – until you do.

What to do if selling is uncomfortable?

• Gamify it. Change the dynamic to make the process more fun and more of a learning experience. People are really interesting – so study them. Find out what makes them tick, and you will understand better why they are looking into your product.
• Get simple systems to track progress (see Simple Sales Forecasts To Drive Business Growth)
• Invest in creating and maintaining a positive mindset. Take care with what you listen to, and who you spend time with.
• Get some great marketing to break the ice.
• Get some help. Having someone in your corner to help in this process, and work with you to improve your chances of success really does make a difference. I coach owners and I know it works.

The post Using the Right Sales Tools appeared first on Emergination.

So many business owners and leaders struggle to get and keep a good handle on the sales numbers. This video explains the reasons why and runs through a simple tool to improve the accuracy of your sales forecasts.

The post Simple Sales Forecasts to Drive Business Growth appeared first on Emergination.

I will be running a workshop at the Stirling Business Centre on Thursday, 3 October 2019 between 9:30am to 12:30pm.

The ability to sell is an essential skill to have if you want to build a profitable business. Selling requires you to communicate effectively and be genuinely interested in understanding your customers and helping them solve their problems.

In this practical workshop, you will learn how to improve your ability to engage with your customers through effective communications skills.

You will learn:

●  Common sales mistakes and how to avoid them

●  The most successful sales process

●  Building empathy and connection

●  Listening and questioning skills

●  When and how to ask for the business

●  How to significantly improve referrals

The workshop is designed to help you engage and build strong relationships with your customers.
At the completion of this workshop, you will leave with an actionable one-page sales plan and be equipped with the tools and knowledge to be more confident in your approach to selling.

Spots are limited, so register today by clicking the link below.

REGISTER

The post Upcoming Workshop – Winning Work appeared first on Emergination.

This event is held annually and was widely attended by business owners in the City of Stirling. There is a great deal of activity underway to support the 19,000 small businesses in the City who generate so much of the employment in the City.

Included within this video is the Momentum Program,  and how it is helping business owners to grow. The City of Stirling provides support to the program led by the Stirling Business Centre. If you want to know about Momentum, please contact us.

Justin Davies is the Stirling Business Association Momentum Business Coach

The post City of Stirling Mayor’s Breakfast appeared first on Emergination.

Successful businesses and innovations benefit the broader community through the creation of:

• new jobs
• new industries
• economic growth
• export opportunities for Western Australia

This program aims to recognise outstanding participants who have successfully commercialised their ideas.

The 2019 Innovator of the Year Finalists

The eight finalists for Innovator of the Year 2019 have been announced. Congratulations go to:

• Alerte Digital Health Pty Ltd – Automated, real-time ECG analysis platform
• iSOL8 – A digital Lock Out Tag Out isolation system
• UWA – Converting Broome nacre to synthetic bone material
• UWA – Weed Chipper: Site-specific weed control
• TENSA Equipment Pty Ltd – Roborigger
• DS Business Services Pty Ltd – Arility
• Steadycorp Pty Ltd – Vertical Bike Racks
• Mining and Process Solutions Pty Ltd – GlyLeach: Metal extraction of copper and gold

As part of an elite group of innovators, all finalists have access to valuable business advisory services and expert training in different areas of business development, including:

• Legal advice
• Pitch delivery
• Digital and social media strategy
• Mentoring

Emergination is proud to be part of IOTY 2019. As an experienced business coach and mentor, Justin will be providing mentoring to the finalists and semi-finalists.

Emergination’s business coaching and mentoring program provides individualised support and exclusive access to a host of online training tools. Business coaching helps business owners and leaders maximise the potential of their business, with guidance to seize opportunities to take their business to the next level. Justin is currently working with Instatruck, Growth Category Winner for the WA Innovator of the Year 2016.

Stay tuned. The winner of IOTY 2019 will be announced on 6th November, 2019.

The post Innovator of the Year 2019 appeared first on Emergination.

Having an understanding of the sales process, and a structured approach when engaging in sales conversations, will help you sell more effectively to your customers. Without a systematic process, the sales journey becomes haphazard, your customers get confused, and the process feels uncomfortable for both parties. This confusion often leads to failure to close the sale, and achieve agreement to proceed.

The Four Stages of Selling

All selling is based upon building rapport and a relationship first and foremost. Without this fundamental, a sale is highly unlikely to proceed. If it does, repeat business is unlikely, and cancellation of an order is highly probable.

There are four stages of a sales meeting. Those people that do not have sales success do not cover all four, or spend too much time in the wrong stage.

The stages are:

1. Preliminaries stage – before selling begins, there are introductory or ice-breaker conversations that take place. This is a really important part of the process to build connection and trust. Finding common ground through positively discussing mutual connections, discussing family, sport or other interests can really help to create a connection and build trust. Another critical factor of the preliminaries stage is that it allows your prospect to clear other items that are on their mind and focus on what it is that you want to talk about.  A very simple open ended question like, “so how are you going?” allows your prospect to clear what is top of mind.
2. Investigating stage – the focus is on discovering your customer’s needs by asking relevant questions. This is the most important stage – and the stage which typically least time is spent.
3. Demonstrating capability – in this stage of the selling cycle, you will need to show your customers that your product or service is capable of solving their problem.
4. Obtaining commitment – the aim is to get a commitment from your customers, such as an order, an appointment for the next meeting, or agreement to trial your product.

The investigating stage is usually where you’ll spend most of the time. This stage is where you get to understand your customer and uncover their needs. Questions play an important role in the investigating stage. Before engaging with your customer, you must do your research and preparation so you know what questions you need to ask. A small investment in time in preparation can help progress a sale significantly and much more rapidly.

Good questions will help control the flow of the sales conversation and help you discover the customer’s needs and problems. Only when you uncover the real issues, you will have a chance to sell your solutions to solve their problems.

Using the SPIN Selling Framework

The SPIN Selling Framework, developed by Neil Rackham, provides a structured framework to help you lead sales conversations with your customers all the way to closing the deal. The SPIN Model is based on asking quality questions in a strategic order, which ultimately guides the customer along the sales journey.

The SPIN model classifies questions into four categories.

1. Situation questions
2. Problem questions
3. Implication questions
4. Need/payoff questions

Situation questions

Situation questions help to establish the background details and the customer’s current situation. This will also help you frame the rest of the questions accordingly to fit the context. These questions provide real value to you in understanding how a prospective customer might buy, what types of experience they have had in buying your services and products before, how they purchase, and the size of the business.

However these questions do not add value to the customer. Asking too many situation questions can make your prospect feel interrogated. If this information is available elsewhere, it also shows them you have not done adequate preparation.

Problem Questions

Problem questions help you identify your customer’s problems and pain points to uncover their needs. The right questions will help you identify needs that your prospect may not even have considered before. Only when you have identified your customer’s problems will you be able to provide a solution for them. Great questions around customer problems are more interesting and engaging for your customer.

Implication questions

Implication questions help the customers identify the impact of their problems. In many cases, the potential impact of a problem is dismissed, ignored or considered trivial. Great implication questions amplify the urgency of their problems by highlighting the possible consequences if the situation remains unresolved.

Needs/payoff questions

Needs/payoff questions encourage the customer to focus on the value and the benefits of the solution you are providing. The goal is to let your customer recognise for themselves and articulate to you the benefits of your product or service. Helping your customers draw their own conclusions have a much more powerful impact and allow the prospect to consider how they might sell the solution internally to other stakeholders.

Tips for an effective sales conversation with your customers

Those people that are truly successful at selling feel that they are helping people rather than selling them something.

• Be genuinely interested in your customer
• Listen substantially more than you talk
• Make the conversation about your customer, not about yourself, your company or your products and services
• Maintain good eye contact
• Be open to opinions that are different from your own
• Ask open-ended questions and apply the SPIN model. Asking relevant questions show that you are interested in what your prospective customers are saying and allows you to learn how you can help them more effectively
• Summarise the conversation and determine a next step to progress the sale

An effective sales conversation is a two-way conversation. Having a structured sales process will help you improve the effectiveness of your sales efforts. Following the SPIN model allows you to keep the conversation focused on your customer’s needs instead of your own. Be attentive and actively listen to what your customer is saying. When you know what is causing difficulties for your customers, you are in a stronger position to help them solve their problems and build a business relationship.

To find out how you can apply the SPIN Selling Framework to your business, contact Emergination for more information on our Sales Workshops.

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